Ken Johnston
The public asked for it and they got it!
A fifth—and likely final—meeting of the accommodation review for Our Lady of the Way School in Stratton was held there last Wednesday evening.
Back in June, members of the public attending the fourth meeting asked if another one could be held since a new principal, Brendan Hyatt, and a new director of education, Richard Boisvert, would be on the job.
The Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) agreed and called one more meeting than it was required to by law.
Both Hyatt and Boisvert addressed the roughly two dozen people on hand last Wednesday.
“I consider myself fortunate to have had my first teaching job here [at OLW],” said Hyatt.
“Later when I was principal from 2005-10, it was flourishing here,” he noted.
“It is very difficult to come back and see it struggling.”
The school, which runs up to Grade 8, saw its enrolment drop to 13 last year. According to board officials at previous ARC meetings, the school can handle up to 130 students.
With declining enrolment, the Northwest Catholic District School Board recommended an ARC process be conducted.
While it was disclosed that the board could save more than $138,000 a year by closing the school, the ARC also looked at the impact on the students in the area.
“Do I want this school to close? Absolutely not,” stressed Hyatt.
“But I believe we need a minimum of two classrooms. Not one,” he added.
Hyatt said he’s spoken to parents who used to send their kids to the school and heard, “They feel their concerns were just dismissed.”
“We need to rebuild relationships with people that consider this their school,” he remarked.
“I will do what I must to rebuild this school,” vowed Hyatt, who garnered applause from the audience for his comments.
Boisvert, meanwhile, gave a brief introduction of himself. He has had 29 years of experience in Catholic education and has had personal involvement in five ARC processes.
Only one formal presentation was made at last Wednesday’s meeting. It was in the form of a letter from Bishop Fred Colli, who expressed his feelings that he would like to see the school remain open.
After the letter was read, ARC chair Anthony Leek polled the committee to see if they would open the meeting up to the floor for any questions from the audience. They agreed to do so.
Bob Sawchuk approached the podium.
“Kudos to Brendan [Hyatt] for accepting this huge task of bringing this school back from the brink,” said Sawchuk.
“It is a travesty that is has reached this point.”
Sawchuk also questioned where the board was in this process, noting that the chair was not in attendance nor were most of the trustees.
“It is their responsibility to manage the system, not just this school,” he charged.
After the meeting, the ARC agreed to stay afterwards to begin formulating its recommendations to the board.
Once they reach recommendation(s), the ARC then will present them to the director of education.
Then it must wait 60 days before presenting the recommendations to the board. That could be late this fall.
Audience member Kevin Kennedy asked if the public can have any more input. It was explained to him that anyone can ask to be put on the board’s agenda as a delegation.
Hyatt was asked if the ARC process, which began last winter, has generated any rise in student population.
“We have two new students for a total of 15 at this time,” he replied.
Other members of the audience suggested the new principal and director of education work with the public on ways the school can be saved.
Once the ARC recommendations are finalized, they will be made public.
